Over the last decade, malicious software has become a pervasive problem for Internet users as many networked resources include vulnerabilities that are subject to attack. For instance, over the past few years, more and more vulnerabilities are being discovered in software that is loaded onto endpoint devices present on a network. These vulnerabilities may be exploited by allowing a third-party, e.g., through computer software, to gain access to one or more areas within the network not typically accessible. For example, a third-party may exploit a software vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to email accounts and/or data files.
While some software vulnerabilities continue to be addressed through software patches, prior to the release of such software patches, network devices will continue to be targeted for attack by exploits, namely malicious computer code that attempts to acquire sensitive information, adversely influence, or attack normal operations of the network device or the entire enterprise network by taking advantage of a vulnerability in computer software. Herein, a network device may be any device with data processing and network connectivity such as, for example, a security appliance, a server, a mainframe, a computer such as a desktop or laptop, netbook, tablet, firewall, smart phone, router, switch, bridge, etc.
In particular, one type of malware may exhibit behaviors such as infecting, encrypting, deleting and/or stealing files (hereinafter generally referred to as “file altering malware”). File altering malware targets computer systems in order to, at least, (i) restrict access to one or more portions of a computer system and demand a payment for the removal of the restriction (e.g., in some instances, file altering malware may encrypt files within the computer system and in other instances, may prohibit access to the entire computer system) or (ii) infect computer systems with information theft routines, which may seek to steal information such as (1) login credentials to one or more applications (e.g., Microsoft® Outlook, Google® Chrome, Spotify, etc.), (2) system information (e.g., Windows product keys, volume serial numbers, etc.), (3) file transport protocol (FTP) credentials, or the like.
In some instances, file altering malware may enter a computer system, for example, when a user of an endpoint device activates a uniform resource locator (URL) in an Internet-browser application or downloads a file from a network or opens an e-mail attachment. Subsequently, the file altering malware may alter various files within the computer, which may include encrypting one or more files thereby restricting access to the one or more files. The file altering malware may then request a payment for a key to decrypt one or more files.
In some cases, the file altering malware may target particular data storage locations, such as files and/or folders containing sensitive personal or corporate information, financial information or even content related to military services. Targeting particular files and/or folders containing sensitive information creates a sense of urgency with the user of the infected endpoint device and/or a corporation associated with the infected endpoint device to adhere to the requests of the malware writers.
Currently, malware detection systems attempting to detect file altering malware have difficulty identifying files affected by file altering malware, as non-malicious applications may affect files and folders in a similar manner as file altering malware. For example, non-malicious file scanners or non-malicious encryption programs may, for example, open, rename, encrypt and/or password protect the same files and/or folders affected by file altering malware (e.g., files and/or folders containing sensitive information). In one example, a corporation deploying an enterprise network may propagate updates to a file encryption program that is intended to encrypt particular directories within a file system on each endpoint device (e.g., a “My Documents” directory on all corporate computers). Upon receiving the updates and launching the corporate-approved file encryption program, current malware detection systems cannot distinguish between the approved file encryption program and file altering malware. Therefore, current malware detection systems may return numerous false-positives and/or false-negatives.